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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. BOEKLEN 8v W. S. WRIGHT.

GAS GBNERATING APPARATUS.

No. 416,047. `Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

(No Model.) Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 2..

R. BOEKLEN 8v W. S. WRIGHT.

GAS GBNBRATING APPARATUS..

No. 416,047. Patented Nov. 26,' 1889 v 31A/nemica@ witnesses @l/M. mmm M' W mig/ww we NA PETERS. Pholn-lkhogrnpwr. washington, D4 CV (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R. BOEKLBN & W. S. WRIGHT. GAS GENERATING APPARATUS'.

No. 416.047. Patented Nov-.26,1889.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

REINHOLD BOEKLEN, OF BROOKLYN, NENV YORK, ANI) \VALTER S. TRIGH'I OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAS-GENERATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,047, dated November 26, 1889.`

Application filed March 5, 1889. Serial No. 801,880. l (No model.)

To @ZZ whom iv may concern:

Be it known that we, REINHOLD BOEKLEN, residing at Brooklymin the county of Kings and State of New York, and NVALTER S.

VRIGHT, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, both citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Generating Apparatus; and we do hereby declare the fol- Io lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention is designed particularly to apply to apparatus for generating what is known as water-gas.

2o The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whereby ordinary coal and water gas may be made from the same coal, and particularly from ordinary bituminous coal. Briefly stated, the result accomplished is the distillation ofV bituminous coal within the apparatus and the withdrawal of the resultant gases and the subsequent heatingof the resultant coke to incandescence and passing steam through such coke to decompose the steam and 3o form water-gas, the entireoperation being performed within the same apparatus, the heat for the distillation of the coal being supplied by the burning coke. This method is adopted because of its economy. In the ordinary dis- 3 5 tillation of coal a certain amount of fire is needed for heating the retorts containing the coal. By the ordinary method of distilling coal such a fire is an extra expense. In the manufacture of water-gas by the ordinary 4o processes, considerable heat is wasted during the process of igniting the bed of coal and coke in which the steam is decomposed. By our process the water-gas fire is made to heat the retorts, and the coke resulting from the distillation of the coal is added to the bed of water-gas fuel without loss of heat, so that the temperature of said fuel is always high. The two kinds of gas may be led off separately for separate purifying and storage, or

5o they may be combined and used as one gas.

Either or both may also be carbureted to acquire illuminating power.

The improvement which constitutes the subject-matter of this application is an addition to or modification of the improvements made the subject-matter of a sole application by Reinhold Boeklen,Serial` No. 301,87 9, who now joins in this application, and liled of even date herewith, and two sole applications, Serial Nos. 301,869 and 301,870, by 6o falter S. T1-ight, who now joins in this application, also filed of even date herewith, each of said sole applications being for Letters Patent of the United States for improvements in gas-generating apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings,'Figure l is a vertical central section of a cupola A embodying our improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section ot' the upper portion of said cupola, taken at right angles to the sec- 7o tion shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section in line o; x of Fig. 2. Fig. l is a plan of the apparatus. Fig. 5 is a detail View.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the apparatus consists of a general iuclosure or cupola A, the lower portion of which B is used as a co1nbustion-chamber, while the upper portion O is used for the distillation of the coal and for superheating the water-gas. The inclosure A is built upin 'the usual way of ire-re- 8o sisting material-such as clay, tile, or brickand is covered over its outer faces with metallic plate. It is also provided with heatresisting and gas-tight doors and ports in the places hereinafter mentioned.- l 85 The portion B of the cupola may be constructed in any of the well-known forms and operated according to any of the ordinary methods of generating water-gas. The parts relating thereto, as shown in the drawings, 9o are merely for illustration.

B is a common grate, upon which the bed of fuel is supported. Any other form of grate may be used in lieu of this. At a suitable distance above the grate is a sealed door B2, which affords access to that portion of the cupola which is to receive the fuel for the incandescent bed.

B3 B3 designate ash-doors below the grate.

B4 is an air-blast pipe leading through the roo vcross-section.

Wall of the cupola, below the grate. This may also enter above the grate, as shown by Fig. l, and it is provided with one or more valves bt.

5 designates steamnozzles entering the cupola just abo-ve the grate', by which steam is introduced to pass through the bed of incandescent fuel resting upon the grate. An annular chest incloses the steampipe b5, from which the nozzles B5 receive their steam. Said steam pipe and chest may extend partially or wholly around the cupola. The chest serves as a heated chamber within which the steam-pipe b5 is heated.

The portion C of the cupola A is preferably expanded laterally and provided at its sides with vertical retorts C', extending from the outer wall toward the center of the cupola and nearly meeting at such center. The drawings show four such retorts; but the number may of course be varied. The drawings also show the cupola as being round in Other shapes may be used, if desired. The dome-shaped arch (L2 rises from thel upper limit of the portion B of the cupola and is continued in a hollow chamber C3, the upper end of which is covered by a door C4, and from the side ofwhich leads a pipe G. Around the sides of the arch C2 are openings D. The retorts C are L-shaped,

the long arm rising vertically to and through the upper wall of the cupola, and the short arm extending horizontally through t-he side wall of the cupola, where an ordinary sealdoor E is applied. At the upper end a seal door F is applied, and a pipe J is led off horizontally. The lower side of the angle formed at the elbow in the retorts rests upon the arch C2, while just above said elbow a passage E extends through the retort into the neck between the arch C2 and the chamber C3. The ends of the passages E nearest the center of the cupola are made to slope at the top toward such center, so that they together form va space like a hollow truncated pyramid or cone. Said ends of said passages are suitably faced to form smooth seats.

E2 is a head 0f the same general shape as the space between said ends, so that when said head is drawn upwardly between said ends the latter are closed and sealed. Said head may be of plain form and composed of ordinary heat-resisting material. The drawings show a valve-stem e2, seated loosely in an upward continuation of said head, and said stem extends upwardly through the cover C4, where it is arranged to be raised by means of a crank-Wheel E3. The drawings show a special device for sealing the ends of the passage E. The main portion of said head is made of heat-resisting material, while the sidesl The action of this special apparatus is as follows: Vheu said stem is drawn upwardly,

said head is also raised and said links are drawn into line, so as to force said plates e3 outwardly away from said head against the ends of said passages, thus at the same time completely sealing the retorts and chamber C3 away from each other and the remainder of the cupola. The pipe Gand the pipes .I lead to the wash-box H. At one side of the cupola, as shown in the drawings, 0r on top of the cupola, as shown by the dotted circle, there is located an exit-pipe I, with a door I upon its top. At the side of said pipe I a pipe I2 is connected and leads thence to the wash-box. Suitable iloors L L may be provided to afford access to the dierent portions of the apparatus. It is to be observed that by this arrangement of the retorts they are entirely surrounded by freespace, and that the group of retorts is sealed at the middle of the cupola bya single valve apparatus.

The operation is as follows: The bed of coal or coke is first placed upon the grate B to a sufficient depth for decomposing steam to form water-gas, said bed being provided with kindling or otherwise for readily igniting the same. The kindling may first be arranged upon the grate through the door B2. Then the coal is fed in through the same door, after which the latter is sealed. The valve at E being closed the retorts C are filled with coal through the doors F, the doors E being first sealed. The door I is now opened and the charge upon the grate B is ignited and the fire urged by a blast from the blastpipe Bil. The gaseous products of this combustion rise upwardly and pass the openings D in the arch C2 and all around the retorts C', and thence out through the exit-pipe I and door I into the outer air; or they may be led thence and utilized as producer gas. By this means each of the retorts C is Well heated simultaneously with the ignition of the bed of material upon the grate. Thus the distillation of the coal in the retorts is established and continued so long as the apparatus remains hot. The gases resulting from such distillation in the retorts rise and escape through the pipes J into the wash-box lI. Vhen the bed of material upon the grate B has been sufficiently ignited for the decomposition of steam, the blast-pipe B4 and the door I are closed and the steam-nozzles B5 are opened. Thus steam is delivered through the bed of incandescent material and decomposed in the well-known manner, the gases resulting 'being hydrogen and carbonio oxide or hydrogen and carbonio acid. If, when the bed of incandescent material has cooled, the coal in the retorts has not been fully distilled, then the steam is shut off, the doorl and the blast-pipe B4 again opened, and the mass of material upon the grate again raised to the required temperature, and said blast-pipe B4 and door I again closed, and the steam again turned on, and so on until the coal in the retorts has been fully distilled and only coke remains in the retorts. Now the grate B mayl IOO be cleared of ashes and cinders and the mass of fuel thereon allowed to settle, then the head E2 lowered, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to open the passages E. Then by opening` the doors E the coke in said retorts may be pushed inwardly through the passage E and allowed to fall downwardly upon the burning bed of fuel below, so that the depth of fuel necessary for the decomposition of steam is restored. Then the head E2 is again raised, the doors E sealed, and the retorts relled with coal through the doors F. The blast of airis again turned on to blow up4 the mass of material upon the grate and the new charges ot' coal in the retorts are heated and distilled. Vhile the head E2 is down, the gases within the cupola may rise through the chamber C3 and pass away through the pipe G to the WashboX. It will be seen that when the distillation is progressing and the water-gas is being formed by the decomposition of the steam, the two kinds of gas are being formed simultaneously and passed separately into the washbox. rlhis is done when it is desired to mix the two kinds of gas and consume them as a mixture. It will be seen, however, that the pipes conveying the two kinds of gas may lead to two distinct wash-boxes and the latter communicate with distinct mains or holders, so that each kind of gas may be consumed separately, for the purpose desired. Either or both of the gases may be carbureted by mixing' the same with vaporized petroleum or other liquid hydrocarbon.

It is to be observed that the entire inclosure or cupola A is a unitary-heated chamber and that the decomposing bed of fuel and the distilling-retorts are located within such chamber, and that the coke produced by distilling the coal in the retorts does not leave said chamber, but remains and is consumed therein, it being transferred only from one portion of said chamber to another. Thus the heat of the coke is preserved to aid in burning it when it reaches the fuelbed.

IVe claim as our inventionl. In a gas-generating cupola, a grate and steam-inlet located in the lower portion of said cupola, a space for a bed of carbonaceous material above said grate, an arch C2, having passages D and resting upon the walls of the cupola near the middle of the latter, a chamber C3, rising through said arch,

L-shaped retorts located in the space between said chamber CS and the outer wall of the cupola and resting upon said arch, said retorts having suitable coal-inlets and gas-outlets an arch C2 in passages D near the middle of said cupola, of a chamber C3, opening at its lower end into the upper portion of said arch, and L-shaped retorts having their vertical arms extending through the upper wall of the cupola and their horizontal arms extending through the lateral walls of the cupola and communicating at their elbows with the upper portion of the said arch, and a sealinghead arranged to be fitted over the openings from said retorts and over the opening from the chamber C3, substantially as shown and described. i

3. I-n a gasgenerating apparatus, the combination of the coal-distilling retorts having coke-outlets directed toward each other, and a sealing-head having the plates es, links e4, and valve-stem e2, arranged and operating substantially as shown and described.

et. In a gas-generating apparatus, the combination, with a cupola A, of coal-distilling retorts arranged within said cupola and having coke-outlets directed toward each other, a sealing-head E2, arranged to rest over said outlets, a valve-stem e2, rising from said head through the upper portion of the cupola, and a suitable crank-wheel connected with said valve-stem for actuating the latter and said sealing-head, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof We aliix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of February, 1889.

REINHOLD BOEKLEN. IVALTER S. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. ROBERTS, GYRUs KEHR. 

